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Flood fears in Osgoode

ottawa.ctvnews.ca
Published Wednesday, March 13, 2013 5:15PM EDT

Spring is coming.

The thought is scaring the people who live on Old George St. in Osgoode. The street has been prone to flooding since the city of Ottawa raised the street level about three years ago causing the run-off to flow into the driveways of residents.

“It's terrible. Like if I had ducks they'd love it,” says Robert Gauthier after wading the ankle-deep water.

The situation is so bad for one house down the street the city blocked their driveway with sand bags. The Morin family was almost too scared to leave their home for March Break.

“We had the city crew on Friday cleaning the snow off. We brought up sand bags just to ensure that there wasn't water flooding in their laneway and in their home. So they could get away to enjoy the week,” says Ottawa councillor for the area Doug Thompson.

Still, the people on this street aren’t the only ones who should be concerned about the spring thaw.

Flood warnings have been raised because the snow pack on the Rideau River is the second highest its been in 34 years.

“I'm quite concerned because the Rideau River runs the full length of Osgoode ward and I know the properties along there and some are very low,” says Thompson.

Thompson says residents of the entire city should be on flood alert due to the amount of snow that’s accumulated this winter.

The city hopes to start to correct the problems on Old George St. this summer.

Until then, residents have to ward off the water for at least one more season.